Mickey and SpongeBob Under the Gavel

By

Stefanie Cohen

Jan. 4, 2013 7:06 p.m. ET

Just like the irrepressible Bugs Bunny, the market for animation art keeps bouncing back.

Since animation studios sold a glut of reprints in the mid-1990s, prices for hand-drawn animation cels—celluloid squares inked with characters—have been weak. Lately, however, the market has strengthened, spurring more sales by auction houses this winter.

"The market was dormant for so long, so now people are coming out of the...